Biography

Shailaja Chandra has over 45 years experience of public administration focusing on governance, health management, population stabilization women’s empowerment, and Indian medicine.

She was Secretary in the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (1999-2002) and then became the Chief Secretary of Delhi until 2004. On retirement she was appointed the Chairman of the Public Grievances Commission and Appellate Authority under the Delhi Right to Information Act. In 2006 she was appointed as the first Executive Director of the National Population Stabilisation Fund, Government of India.

She was also appointed by the Government of Delhi to chair a Committee which reviewed the Delhi School Education Act and Rules 1973 and the report was published in 2012 covering 5000 schools and over 4 million children. Shailaja has an M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Wales and an Honours Degree in English Literature. Her book “It Crossed My Mind” (Rupa 2007) is an anthology of articles on subjects of current social concern. She was given a special Award for advocacy on population issues and gender sensitivity by Ladli-UNFPA.

Papers, reports and publications

She is the author of a recently published Status Report on Indian Medicine (2011 and 2013) commissioned by the Government of India. Besides over 150 articles which address governance priorities have been published by leading national dailies and magazines in India and also by the OECD and WHO. She was recently awarded a fellowship at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Nantes, France to research and write a paper on Probity in Public Life.

Part I of her report titled Status of Indian Medicine and Folk Healing, focuses on integration of AYUSH medical systems (acronym of the health systems practiced in India: Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) in health care delivery. Each of these systems are based on philosophies that represent different but healthy ways of holistic living and health with established concepts on disease prevention and health promotion.